Wallpapering Your Floor (Mar, 1948)

Wallpapering Your Floor

By Julia G. Barkley

Photos by Dean Babcock FLOORS get stepped on in more ways than one. Not only do we walk all over them, but we rarely take them into account in any decorating schemes. With half a chance, however, the floor can give a new lease on beauty to a commonplace entrance hall, dining alcove, or living room.
Probably the notion of walking on wallpaper strikes you as impractical. But with a good protective coating, paper makes a remarkably durable surface. In one public model home, such a floor was walked on by hundreds of people daily for five months without showing perceptible wear.

Choose a paper having a minimum of white in the pattern, since the protective coating may darken clear white. Next, make certain that the surface is flat and smooth. Cracks should be filled and sanded. It is then advisable to seal the surface with a preparatory coat of shellac.

Select a tough-fibered paper and apply it with ordinary wallpaper paste. Match the stripes or designs carefully as you would on a wall. After the paste has dried, apply two coats of clear shellac and one of varnish. Allow each coat to dry before putting on the next. Protect the finished job with three coats of wax, buffed between applications.

Wood sub-floor, before plywood. Low grade lumber, unattractive, not designed to be seen.

CL says: May 16, 20081:49 pm

A hardwood floor would not have surprised me, though. You can see on home renovation TV shows, a lot of great hardwood floors got covered up by ugly carpets & stuff back in the 70’s. They go in & out of fashion.

Anne says: May 17, 20084:15 am

This would be kind of nifty to do, depending on the design of the wallpaper.